Red Sox 2, Rays 1: Ellsbury scores winning run

Saturday

Apr 13, 2013 at 6:05 PM

BOSTON -- All of the home runs Jacoby Ellsbury hit in his Most Valuable Player drive two years ago obscured the multitude of other ways he was missed so badly last year -- particularly on the basepaths.

Brian MacPherson Journal Sports Writer brianmacp

BOSTON -- All of the home runs Jacoby Ellsbury hit in his Most Valuable Player drive two years ago obscured the multitude of other ways he was missed so badly last year -- particularly on the basepaths.

"I take pride in every aspect of the game -- defense, baserunning, hitting," he said. "I try to be a complete player."

When Ellsbury reached on a line-drive single in the bottom of the 10th, there was no doubt what the next step would be. Ellsbury was going to steal second base.

"We felt like we had a real good opportunity to steal a base -- not just because of Jake's base-stealing ability, but it felt like the combination there was something we might be able to take advantage of," Farrell said.

Steal the base Ellsbury did, and he wound up scoring the winning run on a Shane Victorino ground ball in a walk-off 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park on Saturday.

A traumatic shoulder injury suffered exactly a year ago Saturday robbed Boston of one of its most dynamic players at the top of its lineup. The All-Star center fielder missed the next three months and was never the same player upon his return, finishing the season with a .313 on-base percentage and a meager 14 stolen bases in more than 300 plate appearances.

So far this season, Ellsbury has a .364 on-base percentage and already has stolen five bases in fewer than 50 plate appearances.

With the Red Sox and Rays tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the 10th, Ellsbury ripped a one-out bullet back up the middle against Rays reliever Brandon Gomes -- putting him at first base as the potential winning run. The wheels began to turn at that point.

Opposing base-stealers have been successful in more than 80 percent of their attempts against Rays backup catcher Jose Lobaton, and Lobaton hasn't thrown out a would-be base-stealer yet this season.

Lobaton was a significant downgrade from Jose Molina, who has thrown out 39 percent of would-be base-stealers in his career and two of five would-be base-stealers this season. But Molina had been lifted for a pinch-runner after he hit a double in right field, leaving Lobaton to contend with Ellsbury from behind the plate.

Lobaton never really had a chance to throw out Ellsbury took off. What made it worse for Tampa Bay was that the throw from Lobaton tailed to the second-base side, and Escobar made only a half-hearted effort to reel it in -- allowing Ellsbury to move to third.

"Ells is so dangerous once he gets on base," Red Sox catcher David Ross said. "He got a big thing started for us. Putting the pressure on them, that's kind of their game. so it was nice to put the pressure on them."

That brought Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon out of the dugout to set up one of his favorite strategic defenses -- the five-man infield. With switch-hitter Shane Victorino hitting from the left side against Gomes, left fielder Matt Joyce lined up at third base, moving third baseman Evan Longoria to a more traditional shortstop's position and Escobar to a position directly behind the pitcher.

Victorino hit a hard ground ball between Escobar and second baseman Ben Zobrist. Escobar got his glove on the ball but didn't even bother attempting a throw to the plate.

The 10th-inning theatrics followed a terrific pitchers' duel in the early innings by lefties David Price and Jon Lester, the aces of their respective staffs.

Lester flirted dangerously with the top of the strike zone in the first three innings, challenging the Rays with his fastball on the inner half. He eventually paid for it when Sean Rodriguez ripped a fastball down the middle into the left-field corner, bringing the speedy Desmond Jennings around from first base with the game's first run.

From there, however, Lester rediscovered the bottom of the strike zone. He retired 14 of the next 15 hitters he faced, getting eight outs via ground balls and three more via strikeouts. The Rays never put another runner in scoring position.

Price dominated the Red Sox through the early and middle innings, striking out seven of the first 17 hitters he faced while allowing just an infield single and two walks. Only three times had the Red Sox even hit the ball out of the infield when Ross strode to the plate with two outs in the fifth inning.

But Price -- who had thrown his changeup brilliantly all afternoon -- left a changeup over the plate, and Ross hammered it over the Monster seats and onto Lansdowne Street to tie the game at 1-1.

Embattled closer Joel Hanrahan did himself no favors by walking the first two batters in the top of the ninth inning. That was enough for manager John Farrell, who yanked Hanrahan in favor of strike-thrower Koji Uehara.

Unlike Hanrahan, Uehara redeemed himself for the run he allowed to score in his last outing. He struck out pinch-hitter James Loney with a fastball at the knees, and he got Yunel Escobar and Ryan Roberts to hit soft fly balls to end the inning.

Boston had its own chance in the bottom of the ninth inning after Daniel Nava singled and Jonny Gomes walked. But Brandon Gomes -- the third Tampa Bay pitcher of the inning -- got Stephen Drew to hit a lazy fly ball to center field to end the inning.

Molina barely legged out a double a speedier runner might have turned into a triple in the top of the 10th, but Junichi Tazawa stranded pinch-runner Kelly Johnson by retiring the next three hitters he faced.